PNP: No media ban on spot reports

MANILA, Philippines — There is no new order barring members of the media access to spot reports, the Philippine National Police (PNP) said yesterday.

PNP spokesman Chief Superintendent Dionardo Carlos clarified there is no new directive from the national headquarters at Camp Crame on spot reports not being released to the media.

“I have not seen anything because I was asking for the latest but so far there is none,” he said in a news briefing.

Carlos issued the statement following a news report that members of media covering Central Visayas were no longer allowed to see spot reports.

The report said PNP chief Director General Ronald dela Rosa has prohibited all police offices and units from releasing spot reports to journalists. Police blotters, however, are still accessible.

Carlos said what they have is a memorandum dated Feb. 18, 2014 which discusses guidelines on spot reports and blotters.

“All you have to do is make the request, which is what we are doing,” he said.

What is not allowed, Carlos said, is for a report to obtain a hard copy of the spot report.

If a member of media wants to countercheck the details in a press release by comparing it with the spot report, it can be allowed but the document should not be reproduced for the journalist to have a separate copy.

However, if the victims or persons involved are minors, a court order is needed to view the spot report, Carlos said.

Looking at spot reports that are part of an ongoing criminal investigation is also not allowed, he said.

Carlos reminded police personnel to be careful in posting photographs of these documents, which have “security classifications,” on social media.

No security classification

Sen. Panfilo Lacson, chairman of the Senate committee on public order and dangerous drugs and a former PNP chief, said yesterday that as far as he knows, spot reports do not have any security classification that warrants withholding them from journalists.

“If it has none, meaning it’s neither restricted, confidential, secret or top secret, there is no reason not to make the same available,” he said.

Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV also criticized the policy, saying spot reports are supposed to be public record.

“They are not supposed to hide such reports,” he said.

Sen. Paolo Benigno Aquino IV said he was surprised by the policy and vowed to raise the matter in the next hearing of the public order panel into the spate of police killings.

The Southern Police District (SPD) and Quezon City Police District (QCPD) said they will not withhold access to spot reports.

SPD director Chief Superintendent Tomas Apolinario said they post police reports and accomplishments on the SPD’s Viber group.

“Isn’t that the same as the media having access to our written spot reports?” he said.

QCPD director Chief Superintendent Guillermo Eleazar said he will have to clarify the order “but our daily situations, incidents or accomplishments, they are available.” – With Paolo Romero, Robertzon Ramirez, Romina Cabrera